Saturday 26 October 2013

Rúgbrauð - Icelandic Rye Bread

I have got great plans to head to this amazing place, Iceland. Just not yet. I have been looking at different tours and of course the different types of food that the Icelander's offer. 

Being surrounded by the ocean, seafood is seen on a lot of menus. One menu item I have come across heaps on my internet travels, is dried fish. Not too sure how this would taste as we don't eat a great deal of dried fish here in Australia. I know that dried fish has been around since the Vikings and this is a way to preserve food and allowing it to last a lot longer, and less waste.




Another recipe I came across was Rúgbrauð (Rye Bread). Its my understanding that this is cooked in natural springs in Iceland. Where I live, we don't have any of them. But don't worry, a lot of websites give an alternative. 

Rúgbrauð is sweet and dense. You would think that it would be dry and doughy, but surprisingly it is very moist. I brought it straight out of the slow cooker and cut a slice, topped it with butter and it was pretty good I say. 

It would be best served right away with dried fish, butter or pate'. 

What you need:
2 1/2 cups of rye flour
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup scalded milk, cooled until lukewarm
1 tbsp molasses

How to:
1) Mix together the dry ingredients and dissolve the molasses in the warm milk. Stir the milk into the dried ingredients and knead until the mix comes together.

2) Butter a loaf tin and put the dough in the loaf tin. Cover the loaf tin with foil and secure the foil leaving some space at the top for the dough to rise.

3) Put the loaf tin in a slow cooker and fill with water two thirds the way up the loaf tin. Simmer in a slow cooker (our version of a natural spring) on low, for four to four and a half hours. Don't let the water evaporate, check every hour or so. 

4) You can check if the Rúgbrauð is cooked the same way as a cake; put a skewer in the middle and if it comes out clean its done. If it isn't cooked through, put the Rúgbrauð back into the slow cooker for another 15 minutes.



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